Japan Successfully Launches Mars Moon Probe, Expects to Return Phobos Samples in 5 Years

On October 20, 2026, Japan successfully launched the H3 rocket No. 10 carrying the MMX probe, officially opening the Mars moon exploration program. The mission aims to explore the Martian moon Phobos and bring back sampled material in 2031; if successful, it would make the country the first in the world to bring back samples from a Martian moon.

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On October 20, local time in Japan, the H3 rocket No. 10, developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, was ready at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. The rocket carried the probe of the Martian moon exploration program MMX. At 4:41:03 a.m., the rocket ignited and launched, successfully placing the probe into its intended orbit.

The Phobos exploration program is a five-year mission led by JAXA and jointly carried out by five space agencies worldwide, including the United States. It plans to land a robotic probe and a rover on Phobos, the larger and closer of Mars's two small moons.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi posted on the X platform after the successful launch that this historic feat had achieved complete success, and she looked forward to the smooth realization of sample return from the Martian system.

Phobos is an irregularly shaped, potato-like rock with a diameter of about 22 kilometers. Studying its fragments helps reveal the origins of the Martian moons and even the moons of other celestial bodies. The probe weighs 5 tons and is expected to arrive at Mars by the end of next summer, entering an orbit synchronized with Phobos, after which it will release a rover named Edifix, jointly developed by France and Germany. If the mission succeeds, dust, soil, and rock samples from Phobos will return to Earth in 2031, with the entire program costing $578 million.

Although both the United States and China have successfully explored Mars, no one has yet set foot on Phobos or Deimos, and no country has ever successfully brought back samples from Mars or its moons.